Joan Matsalia
M.Ed. '01 • Program Manager, Harvard After school Initiative, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Joan Matsalia has worked in education for more than 25 years, with a career focused primarily on early care and education. She owns a nationally accredited family childcare program in Watertown, Massachusetts. Until recently, she was the child care director for a system in Lowell that trains and supports 35 family-based providers, the majority of whom are Spanish and Southeast Asian immigrants. She currently is the program manager for the Harvard After School Initiative (HASI) Bridging Project at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.

An education in caring
Joan Matsalia's path to higher education was blazed with the help of a mentor in the field who recognized her talent and passion for working with others. “She explained that I wouldn't be able to further my career without a degree,” Matsalia says. Two months later, she was enrolled at Cambridge College.

Cambridge College gave Matsalia the opportunity to research a subject she feels passionately about. Her focus was on caregivers who speak a first language other than English, and helping them to improve their skills with access to training.

“Eventually, my research, reading, and work in this area gave me the opportunity to participate in policymaking at a state and national level,” she notes.

“Ten years ago, I never would have believed that my professional life would be transformed by a degree program,” she continues. “I gained confidence in my abilities, and was able to hone my skills as an educator. I'm now working in a field I've always loved – but in a role that would not have been possible without my Cambridge College experience.”

Joan believes that the landscape of early care and education is changing quickly, and that Cambridge College is uniquely positioned to have a profound impact on the field. “Some programs will soon require caregivers to earn a degree,” she says. “Many full-time workers, a number of whom speak a language other than English, will be attending college. Cambridge College, with its history of serving a diverse student population, may offer the best training in the state.”